Talking of Michelangelo
by kad88
Summary: A simple board game gives Raphael a closer look at his brother than he has had in a long time. Maybe he should start paying more attention. (2003 universe) Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT


"Ya aren't serious, are ya?" Raphael finished a final blow on the practice dummy with his sai.

Michelangelo gasped, a hand held over his heart. "I would never joke about the Justice Force, Raphie-boy." He said, though his grin told Raphael otherwise. Raphael snorted.

"I ain't playin' some dumb board game with ya, Knucklehead." Raphael replied, sheathing his sai. "'sides, don't ya have some other brother ta torture for a while?"

"But Raph!" Michelangelo mewled. He ran up to his older brother, hands grasped together in a begging-motion. "Please?"

'He's not gonna give up 'till I say yes, is he?' Raph thought. 'Eh, let the idiot whine, He's not gonna get anywhere.'

"If you don't I won't make dinner tonight." Michelangelo said, a small twinkle in his eye.

Raphael paused, glaring. 'He wouldn't… ' Raphael though. 'Wouldn't he?' The two stared at each other, but Raphael could tell from the gleam in his brother's eyes that he wasn't backing down. "Fine," He huffed at last.

The two sat around a board game that Raphael immediately knew was for children. 'I'm too old for this crap,' he thought, watching Mikey cheer after his first roll, moving some superhero across the board, 'But I guess if it keeps him entertained and me from setting the kitchen on fire, I'm happy.'

Despite Raphael's thoughts, he was determined to be miserable throughout the entire game. As the game went on, though, he found himself having fun, even if he would never admit it to Mikey. "Hey, hey! No cheatin'!" He said, sure that Mikey had moved his player two spaces farther than the die had read.

Michelangelo grinned. "Nuh-uh! Stainless Steel Steve gets to move forward an extra two spaces if he lands on silver; check the directions!"

Raphael narrowed his eyes, but did as he was told. His eyes scanned the paper, and when he found what Michelangelo had stated, he growled. "I guess ya just got lucky with your player." He responded.

"Hey, all the players have some special 'skill,'" Mikey responded, rolling his eyes. "I mean, you're playing with Joey Lastic! He gets to move ahead five spaces every time you roll a two."

"Mikey! I 'ave rolled twos before! Why didn't ya tell me, ya cheating scum." Raph lightly slapped Michelangelo on the back of the head.

"Ow! It's not my fault you didn't read the directions before-hand."

"Why ya— "

"Don't be mad just because your player's still at the beginning of the game. You don't want to be a sore loser, do you?" Mikey interrupted, laughing.

Raphael slowed his breathing, attempting to keep himself from tackling his brother right there. After a moment, and much to Mikey's surprise, he grinned, but his eyes were narrowed. "If there's one thing I'm good at, Mikey, it's making a comeback. Don't count yourself victor yet."

If Michelangelo had had eyebrows, he would have raised one. "I don't seem to remember you being the Battle Nexus Champion." He grinned, knowing that this was just the way to push Raph's buttons.

"Well, ya've got somethin' comin' to ya, then, _Mikey-boy._ " Raph responded, playing with the nickname the orange-clad turtle usually gave him.

The two played harder than ever, Raphael discovering new strategies to winning (though he knew it was mostly about luck, something Mikey seemed to have buckets of), and Michelangelo just happy to play. An hour later, the two tensed on Michelangelo's roll. His player was five away from the finish line, with Raphael's just one space behind. The two leaned closer to the board, both praying for different numbers. Michelangelo released the die. He grinned at his older brother, and began to move his piece. "One… two… three… four, five!" He said, emphasizing each number dramatically. "Ha! No one beats the Battle Nexus Champion!"

Raph rolled his eyes. "Heard it all before, Mikey. Anyway, it was just a stupid board game."

"Told you you'd be a sore loser." Michelangelo replied. When Raph only growled in response, he continued, "Come on, you had fun!" Mikey nudged him.

Raphael huffed. "Did not. I don't get why ya like this crap, anyway. It's just a bunch of dumb superhero stuff. We face a shell of a lot more than any of your heroes, so why is this even entertaining for ya?"

Mikey's expression dulled, but to Raph, his stare seemed more intent than it had ever been. 'Has his eyes always had that weird all-knowin' look in them?' He thought.

"Do you really want to know?" Mikey asked, not rudely, but calmly enough for Raph to know he was being serious. Raph stared at him, worry immediately overcoming him. 'Did I say somethin'? I was just teasing him, so is he going all personality-change on me?'

Raphael cleared his throat. "Is everything okay, Mikey?"

Mikey just looked at him. Raph could tell he was uncertain about something, but he had never known his brother to lose his goofy demeanor before. Looking back on it, Mikey's smile had seemed a little forced at the start of the game, but as it continued, Raph was sure that smile became real. He felt a twinge of guilt for not noticing Mikey's strange mood until now.

The younger brother opened his mouth, then closed it. Raphael broke the silence, "Ya know ya can tell me anything, Mikey." At that, Mikey smiled.

"Why do you like to fight?" He asked, at last.

The question caught Raph off-guard. "Uh-what?"

"You know, in training? And when you go off and beat people up?"

Raphael swallowed. "Well, ya know it's just criminals. It's not like I go around attacking random people."

Mikey offered a small smile. "But it calms your nerves, doesn't it? Being out there—-or just in the training room—-gives you something to focus on besides the anger or the pain."

Raphael sucked in a breath. 'Gee, it's not like Mikey ta be this philosophical. I mean, I guess it happens sometimes but those were just flukes.'

"I guess I do like ta fight when I'm upset, but I don't see how this has ta do with my question."

Mikey began shaking the die in his hand, absentmindedly. "You work out and fight to deal with your problems, I kick back and enjoy a good comic book or movie." He said. "Besides, you gotta admit the Justice Force _is_ pretty cool."

"I guess so." Raphael chuckled, but the gears in his head were turning. 'If playin' this board game with me was ta keep his mind off somethin', what happened?' A million things that could have gone wrong for Mikey ran through Raph's mind, each escalating to a worse possibility than the last. "So, you gonna tell me what got ya so upset as to threaten to starve me if I didn't play this board game?" Raph refrained from adding 'stupid' or 'dumb' in front of 'board game.'

Michelangelo grinned, setting the die down. "It doesn't really matter, anymore. The Mikester has it all figured out."

Raphael laughed. "The 'Mikester?' You really need a better name for yourself."

"Hmm… Then how about the Battle— "

Raphael threw the box lid at him. "Don't ya dare say it." He watched his brother closely, noticing that Mikey's smile seemed sincere, but still… "Ya sure you're all right?"

Mikey nodded. "Of course! This is me we're talking about."

Raphael decided to leave it. He never liked other people being nosy about his problems, so why should he pry into Mikey's? Still, he decided that he would pay more attention to his brother's body language in the future. 'There's no way in shell my brother's gonna be upset without me knowin' about it,' He thought, still tempted to press Mikey further on the issue. 'But I guess he'll go to me or one of the others when he's ready.' Raphael hoped this, at least. He had never known his brother to complain about anything serious before, just the trivial whining about his comics or not being able to sleep in. For a while, Raph thought Michelangelo was just never affected by anything— that maybe he was always just that carefree.

"If ya ever need to talk, I'm here for ya, bro. I know I can be kind of… "

"Dense?" Mikey said, helpfully.

" — about feelings," Raph chose to ignore Mikey's statement. "But ya know there isn't anything I wouldn't do for ya."

He thought that Mikey was going to make some smart-mouth comment about doing his chores or something, but instead, Mikey just nodded. "I know," He said, "and thanks."

Raph was about to reply when footsteps sounded behind him.

"So, Raph. Playing superhero board games now, are we?"

"Shut up, Leo."

* * *

 **AN Thank you to everyone who has read this story! This is my first time writing in this fandom and did so as a part of a one shot challenge with my friend, Mshushu22 (She has some good stories so go check her out if you want!). The prompt was: Raphael and Michelangelo play a board game. Thanks again and I'm open to any feedback!**


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